Harness-actuating attachment for looms or the like



June 4, 1929. B. Hr-:THERINGTON 1,715,363

I HARNESS ACTUATING ATTACHMENT FOR LOOMS OR THE LIKE Filed Odt. 3l. 1927 5 Sheets-Sheet l glwventpz attenua June 4, 1929. B. HETHERlNGToN v 1,715.363

HARNESS ACTUATING ATTACHMENT FOR LOOMS OR Thal LIKE Filed Oct. 31,1927 5 SheetS-Sheet. 2

S14/vento@ wmf@ atkoznul June 4, 1929. V B HETHERlNGTON I y 1,715,363

HARNESS ACTUATING ATTACHMENT FOR LOOMS OR THE LIKE Filed oct. 31, 1927 3 she'ets-sheef. 3

INVENTOR f/vJ//f//v iff/eff /A/m/ BY M ATTOR EY Patented .lune 4, 1929.

rarest ortica.

BENJAMIN HETHERNGTON, 0F FALL RIVER, MASSACHUSETTS.

nnRNnss-Acrunrine vnrraoniviim'r non Looms on THE `Lrizn.

Application filed October 31, 1927. Serial No. 229,973.

My invention relates to an improved head motion for a plain loom by which the plain loom is adapted to produce the leno or cross weave. Fabric involving this particular weave is also known as marquisette andvin the past has been produced on dobby looms. At-

tachments have been proposed and used on plain looms whereby the leno weave is obtained, however, they have been of a Complicated nature.v It is an object of my invention to provide a mechanism for operating heddles inl a plain loom weaving the plain or marquisette weave, which is simple in structure and reliable in operation.

Another object of my invention is to provide a mechanism for operating heddles in a plain loom which may be applied to either side of the loom and which eliminates the use of rockers and pump rods which are dangerous to the operator working around the loom.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a motion for leno weaving which rolls and dwells in its travel and is free from any jerking thereby reducing if not eliminating the number of broken ends so that a greater 'running time is achieved by the loom so equipped.

Other objects and advantages will appear from the detailed description whichfollows.

I attain these objects and advantages by means .of the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying*drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of the upper part ot a loom showing the arrangement of sheaves over which pass the straps and wires which hold the harness members.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the loom showing my improved mechanism attached thereon. Y Y

F igureB is an enlarged view of the lower half of my harness operating mechanism Ashowing the hand wheel removed.

Figure 4 is an end elevational View ofthe same. f Y v Referring to Figure 1, 1 is the loom arch having the bracket 2 secured thereto. rlhe bracket 2 has two studs 3 and'4 on each of which is mounted a series of sheaves. In my preferred embodiment the upper series 5 comprises seven sheaves and the lower series 6 eonsit-s of two sheaves. Mounted 'on the studs 7 and 8 on the loom arch are the series of sheaves 9 and 10 respectively which s'upport the harness membersl 11. The number of sheaves in each of the'series 9 and 10 in six although it should be understood that the number may be varied according to the number of harness members employed.

' Straps are provided for holding the har` nesses which pass overthe sheaves but these will be Ydescribedin more detail in conjunction. with the motion imparting mechanism. 0 Where a leno or .cross Weave is desired it 1s necessary to provide a harness arrangement whereby certain of the harnesses called the ground harnesses move only one half the distance traversed by the other harnesses and make one complete reciprocation with every up and downv movement oiijthe other harnesses called the ldoup'harnesses y As the particular operation underlying'the formation of this weave is already known in the prior art,'being particularly described in United States Patent 1,554,567 Vissued to Gladstone'=Fish, further discussionof this operation is unnecessary.

will now describe themechanism for actu- .ating the doup harnesses and the ground harnesses in the making of the leno weave.

Referring to Figure 4, 12 is thedrive shaft of theloom having the driving gear 13 and hand wheel 14 secured thereto at the outer end; The cam shaft 15 has the bottom gear 16 thereon 'which is turned by the driving gear 13,the gear 16 being-twice the size of gear 13, whereby the latter makes two revolutions to every revolution ofthe former. A cam 17 is tiXedon the shaft 12 adjacent the gear 13 by a set screw. A double cam 18 Vis Vsecuredto the outer extremity of the cam sha-ft 15. f

The treadles 19 and 20 are pivotally secured to the loom end by a stud 21 andv nut 22. The .treadles are provided with cam rollers.

vide a better grip for the hooks 25and 26 to which the wide straps 25 and 26 respectivelyare attached. As shown three wires withl i their corresponding leather straps are se- "cured to each of the straps` 25 and 26 vand pass over the sheaves provided on the loom arch to the doup and selvage harnesses within the loom. Theindividual straps 27', 28, 29 hold yup alternate harness members,.so also do the strap-sl 30, 31,'32.

The harnesses actuated by the treadles are given thefull stroke movement by reason of the cam arrangement. The meaning of the full stroke in weaving is familiar to anyone skilled in the loom art. A

In plain weaving the full stroke alone is,

necessary but where as here it is desired to produce the cross weave it is necessary to employ in conjunction with full stroke harnesses, harnesses which travel only one half the distance of the full stroke and return during the same time that the other harnesses are ytravelling the full stroke. The half stroke harnesses are known as the ground harnesses and may be one or more in number. To accomplish this motionthe jumper means now to be described isemployed. A 'umper lever 38 is pivotally secured at one en to the loom as at 84 and passing under the` cam 17 above mentioned. A roller 351isr provided on the lever 33 tol Contact with the ycam and thereby reduce friction. It is to be understood that other means may be used instead ofthe roller or follower 35, such as a wear plate. At the other end of the jump lever is an eye bolt to which is secured the strap 36 which passes over one of the sheaves 6 and over onevof-the sheaves 9 and V10 to hold up the ground.harnesses.v Y

The degreeofslackening requisite during the weaving operationvi-s secured by means of theeasing Vbarv 40 over which the warp threadspass. The bar is pivotall'y mounted for rocking movement on the loom frame at 41 and has the arm 42 which extends towards the lav end of the loom. The arm'42 is resiliently connectedto the floor by means of the strap 43 and spring44. The rocking of the slackener is achieved by means of the v strap 45 which is connected to the arm 42 at a moving the slackening or easing bar. The yaction of this strap on the slackener should take place only whenthe treadles separate,

the strap `being alternately acted upon first by one treadle, then the other, the 'thrust action being exerted at every pick.

The arrangement of the sheaves on` the y loom arch allows for simplicity of structure.

There is no headl mechanism comprising a rocker which generally occupiesV much room. The staggered straps holdingv the'doup and f selvage harnesses pass over the top first row of sheaves which 1n vthe drawing Iv call 5.

The strap 45 which operates the slackener also passes over onel of the sheaves in this series. The vstrap 36 from the jumper 33 pases over one-ofthe sheaves shownL at 6. They connectionsv from these superposed n sheavesfpassing over the other sheaves 9 and l0 on; the loom arch andl tothe harnesses, is the vusual construction and need not be described here, as resort may be had to any desired method of strap and wire hook-up.

` The operation of my improved motion for producing the leno or cross weave is as follows. The loom is set in motion, the driving force being applied through the drive shaft on which is a top or drive gear which meshes with the bottom gear on the cam shaft. As previously stated, the bottom gear makes only one half revolution during a revolution of the top gear. The jumper lever is actuated by the cam on the drive shaft and simultaneously the treadle members to which the harness straps as well as the slackener strap are secured are set in motion but by reason of the ratio of the top gear to the bottom gear, the ground harnesses which are controlled by the jumper lever reciprocate completely during one strokeof the remaining harnesses.

.The loop of the slackener strap passes around both treadles. The stroke of the ground harnesses is one half of the stroke described by the other harness. rIhe slackener bar is acted upon to ease the warp during every pick since the slackener strap is depressed during every stroke of the harnesses whereupon the slackener bar is depressed thereby slackening ythe warp threads whichl pass thereover.

It will be appreciated that with the above motion it is possible to weave the leno weave in a plain loom in two picks. By reason of the compact'actuatiug mechanism which is disposed below the drive and cam shafts I have done away with the complicatedV rocker and jump rods which are asource of danger to the attendant. The proposed motion is not only reliable in operation but is cheaperto manufacture by virtue ofits simplicity.

Should it be desired to weave plain cloth in Y the loom all that is necessary is to disconnect the jumper means, slackener mechanism and ground harnesses from the drive shaft and replace the doup and selvage harnesses with proper harnesses. f

All that has been said above in the description of mypreferred embodiment is offered by way of f illustration and not limitation. I do not wish to be limited tothe exact structure of the preferred embodiment shown and described, or to any particular material used in the construction of parts, or to the design `of parts, but desire protection as againsty any variations in structure which utilize the principle of my invention and fall within the purview of my invention and are within the spritand scope of the following claims. n The invention having been Vset forth, what is claimed as new and useful is:

l. In a loom, a plurality of harness members, a drive shaft, a cam shaft driven by said` drive` shaft, treadle meansv pivotally mounted on said loom and actuated by said cam shaft, connections on said treadle means, sheaves, said connections passing over said sheaves and connected to said harness members, a slackener member resiliently connected to the floor, a connector having a loop portion connecting said slackener to said treadle means to actuate said slackener, said loop portion passing around said treadle means.

2. In a plain loom adapted to produce the leno Weave, doup harnesses, ground harnesses, sheaves, a drive shaft, a jumper means, a cam on said drive shaft to actuate said jumper means, straps secured to said jumper means and passing over certain of said sheaves to the ground harnesses, said jumper means being adapted to give said ground harnesses a half stroke movement, a cam shaft, said cam shaft being driven by said drive shaft, gears on said shafts for operating the cam shaft one half as fast as the drive shaft, treadle means connecting said doup harnesses by straps passing over certain of said sheaves, said trea'dle means being pivoted at one end to the loom and being actuated by said double cam to give the alternate doup harnesses the normal full stroke movement, and slackening means actuated by said treadle means and simultaneously operable With said harnesses.

3. In a loom, the combination of a plurality of harnesses, means for giving to certain of said harnesses t-he normal full stroke movement, a second means for giving to certain of certain harnesses a stroke equal to one half the normal full stroke movement, said first means comprising treadle members pivotally secured to one end of the loom, a. cam shaft, a double acting cam contacting said treadles and being adapted to alternately depresss one treadle and then another, connecting means at the other end of said trea'dles for attach- Vment to said harnesses having the full stroke movement, and driving means for driving said cam shaft, said second means comprising a cam on the drive shaft, a lever pivotally secured tosaid loom and contacting said cam, said' first and second means being operatively connected by gears. I f

4f. In a loom, a drive shaft, a cam onsaid drive shaft, a jumper mechanism actuated by said cam, said jumper mechanism comprising a lever pivotally secured at one end to said loom and contacting said cam, sheaves, ground harnesses, doup harnesses, al strap secured to the other end of said lever and passing over said sheaves and connected to said ground harnesses for imparting reciprocating movement thereto, said drive shaft havsaid driving gear, and means operated by said driving gear for imparting a full stroke to the doup harnesses.

Signed at Fall River, in the county of Bristol, Statev of Massachusetts,.this twenty-fifth Y day of October, 1927. v

BENJAMIN HETHERINGTON. 

